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REPORT 


OF 


THE    JDIR.EC  T  0  II  S 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAIL  ROAD 


COMPANY. 


RALEIOH  : 

Thos.  J.  Lcmay,  Printer  to  the  State. 
1850, 


House  Commons,  December  20,  1850J 
[Ordered  to  be  sent  to  the  Senate  with  a  proposition  to  print.] 

Senate,  December  21,  1850. 
[Ordered  to  be  printed,] 


c 
REPORT 

OF  THE 

DIRECTORS   OF   THE  NORTH 
CAROLINA  RAIL  ROAD. 


To  the  Honorable 

The  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina:. 

In  pursuance  of  tVie  provisions  of  an  act  of  the  last  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  entitled  "  an  act  to  "incorporate  the  North 
Carolina  Rail  Road  Company,"  books  of  subscription  for  the 
capital  stock  of  said  company  were  opened,  at  the  places  de- 
signated, and  by  the  commissioners  therein  appointed,  and 
stock  to  the  amount  of  one  million  of  dollars  was  subscrib- 
ed, and  five  per  cent,  on  each  share  paid  in  by  individuals, 
all  as  required  by  said  act.  The  stockholders  thereafter,  in 
the  month  of  July  last,  met  in  the  town  of  Salisbury,  and 
duly  organized  the  company,  proceeded  to  the  transaction  of 
business,  and  appointed  their  directors. 

The  directors  forthwith  proceeded  to  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  assigned  them,  elected  their  President,  and  appointed 
their  chief  Engineer. 

Under  the  efficient  and  energetic  direction  of  this  latter 
officer,  Major  Walter  Gwynn,  by  the  last  of  August  and  du- 
ring September,  four  corps  of  Engineers  were  in  the  field, 
engaged  in  active  operations;  since  which  time,  about  nine 
hundred  miles  of  line  have  been  surveyed  and  tested  by  the 
compass  and  level. 

The  general  direction  of  the  route  for  the  road  as  survey- 
ed (which  includes  the  various  alternate  lines  run  between 
0%  the  same  points)  rims   from  Goldsboro'  and  Waynesboro'  by 


or  near  to  Raleigh,  Hillsboro',  Graham,  Greensboro',  Lex- 
ington, Salisbury  and  Concord,  to  Charlotte. 

Although,  on  most  of  the  lines  surveyed,  a  road  might  be 
made,  yet,  by  running  one  or  more  alternate  lines  between 
the  same  points,  we  have  been  enabled  to  test  and  compare 
these  lines,  and  sdect  the  best,  as  to  cost  and  diminished 
grade. 

As  this  is  essentially  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  RAIL 
ROAD— THE  GREAT  ARTERY  along  which  health  and 
prosperity  will  pulsate  through  the  centre  of  the  body  politic, 
carrying  the  same  blessings  to  the  extremities,  wherever  it 
may  be  extended,  the  directors  have  spared  no  pains,  but 
have  exercised  their  best  judgment  to  select  such  a  route  for 
the  road  as  will  meet  the  high  expectations  of  the  public,  and 
the  great  interests  of  the  State. 

They  have  been  the  more  deeply  impressed  witli  the  high 
obligation  imposed  upon  them,  from  the  fact  that  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people,  reposing  in  them  a  generous  confi- 
dence, have  assigned  to  them  the  important  and  solemn  duty. 

The  examinations  already  made,  prove  beyond  question, 
that  a  route  will  be  secured,  excellent  for  quick  travel  and 
cheap  transportation;  the  curves  will  be  exceedingly  easy, 
and  the  maximum  grade  not  exceeding  fifty  feet  to  the  mile, 
and  this  high  grade  will  be  encountered  only  for  short  dis- 
tances and  at  few  points:  the  greater  portion  of  the  road  will 
pass  over  a  level  surface,  or  grades  so  gently  undulating  as 
to  cause  but  little  inconvenience,  or  be  scarcely  perceptible — 
and  the  directors  hope,  at  an  early  day,  to  be  prepared  to  let 
out  contracts  along  the  whole  line  of  the  road. 

The  directors  had  hoped  that  they  would  have  been  pre- 
pared to  lay  before  your  honorable  body,  during  its  present 
session,  estimates  of  the  cost  of  the  work,  founded  upon  the 
most  critical  examinations  and  calculations,  and  upon  which 
the  most  implicit  reliance  might  be  placed. 

However  deeply  it  is  to  be  regretted,  they  ore  unable  to  do 
so  :  the  late  period  at  which  the  survey  was  commenced,  the 
great  extent  of  the  whole  line  to  be  surveyed,  and  the  num- 
ber of  alternate  lines  it  was  deemed  proper  should  be  run, 
have  prevented  it:  the  assistant  engineers  have  been  so  con- 
stantly in  the  field,  actively  engaged,  that  they  have  not  had 
sufficient  time  to  do  office  business  and  bring  up  their  work, 
so  that  the  chief  engineer  might  have  the  data  upon  which 
reliable  estimates  might  be  made.  Nor  is  this  failure  to  have 
the  estimates  attributable  in  the  least  to  any  delinquency  on  the 
part  of  any  of  the  engineers  in  the  employment  of  the  board. 
The  long  connection  of  the  chief  engineer  with  important 


-works  of  improvement  in  this  State,  has  afforded  him  an  op- 
portunity of  establishing  a  reputation  for  energy,  ability  and 
fidelity,  that  requires  commendation  from  no  quarter;  and  it 
is  due  to  the  principal,  assistant  engineers  and  the  corps  under 
their  command  to  say,  that  it  may  well  be  questioned  whe- 
ther a  greater  amount  of  service  was  ever  performed,  by  the 
same  number  of  corps,  in  the  same  length  of  time. 

But  while  the  chief  engineer  has  been  unable  to  make  out 
estimates  upon  which  he  would  be  willing  to  hazard  his  pro- 
fessional reputation,  he  has  assured  the  board  that  he  has  al- 
ready before  him,  sufficient  data  to  justify  him  in  declaring 
that  the  road  can  be  constructed  in  the  most  substantial  man- 
ner, with  heavy  T  iron,  Depots,  Water  Stations,  &c,  within 
the  capital  stock  of  the  company. 

He,  at  the  same  time,  was  unwilling  to  declare  that,  in  his 
opinion,  the  capital  stock  would  be  sufficient  to  fully  equip 
the  rond  with  engines,  passenger  and  freight  cars,  machine 
shops,  &c.  :  on  the  contrary,  he  was  inclined  to  the  opinion 
that  it  would  not  be  quite  sufficient  to  do  it ;  but  that  any  addi- 
tional sum  which  might  be  required,  could  be  easily  raised 
by  the  means  provided  by  the  charter  by  increasing  the  cap- 
ital stock,  or  contracting  a  loan  for  the  small  amount  that 
might  be  found  necessary  for  the  full  equipment  of  the  road — . 
a  loan  that  might  be  deemed  very  inconsiderable  to  a  great 
work  like  this,  just  starting  into  existence,  substantially  built 
and  thoroughly  equipped. 

And  who  can  doubt  this  latter  opinion?  when  it  is  recol- 
lected that  for  a  large  portion  of  the  State  through  which 
this  road  will  pnss,  and  for  hundreds  of  miles  beyond  its 
western  terminus,  not  one  boat  floats,  not  one  plank,  McAd- 
amized  or  turnpike  road  points  agriculture  toils  market; 
(save  some  short  road  through  the  yorge  of  some  mountain,) 
the  piimeval  forests,  as  yet,  are  undisturbed  by  the  whistle 
of  the  steam  engine,  or  the  thunders  of  the  train  ;  and  yet 
this  is  a  region  for  natural  advantages  and  excellent  popula- 
tion, that  will  compare  with  any  on  the  face  of  the  Globe. 

The  passage  of  the  act  under  which  this  company  is  or- 
ganized, was  the  dawning  of  hope  to  North  Carolina;  the 
securing  its  charter,  was  the  rising  sun  of  that  hope;  the 
completion  of  the  road  wi'l  be  the  meridian  glory  of  that 
hope,  pregnant  with  results  that  none  living  can  divine. 

J.  M.  MORE  HE  AD, 

President  of  the  Norlh 
Carolina  Mail  Road. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/reportofdirectorOOnort 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00042071701 


FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


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